Storms fail to hurt restaurant business, but parking is a problem

Cold, snow and even blizzards have not stopped hardy New Englanders from enjoying their weekend ritual of eating at restaurants this wintry month.

Local restaurant operators say business is strong, despite three weekends of consecutive snow, starting with a blizzard that dumped feet, not inches, of snow on Central Massachusetts, and ending with this past weekend's slushy mess.

Although restaurants lost money when they had to shut down for part of the February blizzard, known as Nemo, business bounced back once plows cleared the way for stir-crazy customers to go out again.

And while this past weekend's precipitation — hardly a debilitating storm — slowed business, restaurant operators were not too worried.

“Our regulars, they're faithful even during the bad weather,” said Jonathan Richmond, assistant manager at Romaine's in Northboro.

Weekends are typically the busiest times for eateries; this month they have also been the most popular times for snow. The recent blizzard forced Funky Murphy's in Worcester to close Feb. 8, the first time the restaurant has ever closed because of weather, according to manager Dan Chery. But customers made a comeback the next day.

The bigger problem for the Shrewsbury Street restaurant is the parking spaces it loses when plows push snow into a lane that would normally contain the cars of customers.

“Nine times of out of 10, if they can't find parking, they'll go somewhere else,” Mr. Chery said.

Weather has not stopped the regulars from heading to One Eleven Chop House in Worcester for a tender steak, or to Rovezzi's Ristorante in Sturbridge for a plate of ravioli or chicken parmigiano.

“For the most part, we've been really busy,” said Kristal Swiderski, manager at Rovezzi's.

Restaurant managers noted that diners generally stay home during the worst of the storms, but they're eager to get out once the snow subsides. At Romaine's, that means customer traffic shifts from one day of the week to another, Mr. Richmond said.

During the blizzard, Romaine's was forced to throw out some fresh meat and seafood, and it lost 9 percent of its weekly business when it had to close for two days. But that was followed up by a busier-than-usual Sunday, and then Valentine's Day, always a revenue generator for restaurants.

Leslie Sanders, assistant general manager at Not Your Average Joe's in Westboro, also credited the “bounceback effect” that happens after big storms for keeping business at healthy levels.

The day after the 2011 Halloween snowstorm, she noted, was one of the restaurant's busiest days ever.

“We actually tend to do better when storms happen, when people unfortunately lose power,” she said. “People are looking for warm food and a friendly face. I think we've become that hub for people to come to.”